C.S. Lewis and the Heavens - Search for Meaning in the Sky

Apparently, Mr. Lewis spent a good deal of time pondering the heavens.
This title of this post is my afternoon elective for week two in Cambridge.
Recently I came across these words from the book of Isaiah and my curiosity is provoked even more:
"To whom will you compare me?"
Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.
Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name.

I anticipate a bible study like no other!

Robinson College is headquarters for our week in Cambridge...our daily walk there will lead us through the famous gardens of St.Clare's College built 1638-1640 and pictured above.

A concert of the renowned King's College Singers and Orchestra awaits us here, on their own turf. King's College was built over a span of nearly 70 years 1446-1515.

If all goes well, my next post will be a pictorial summary of our "flight" on the Eye of London. We are due to arrive on English soil at 8:30am tomorrow and hope to make our way over to the city center for that particular treat before boarding the Oxford Express to our conference destination (an hour and a half away).
Fasten your seatbelt; we're off!

Women Traveling Solo but Savvy

In my zeal to be a well-prepared traveller in Europe I've enjoyed pouring through this terrific site: www.ricksteves.com It has been informative in the extreme and on the subject of women travelling alone in foreign countries -- even comical.
Under the heading of Dealing with Harassment I discovered this gem:

Wear a real or fake wedding ring and carry a picture of a real or fake husband. There's no need to tell men that you're traveling alone, or whether you're actually married or single. Lie unhesitatingly. You're traveling with your husband. He's waiting for you at the hotel. He's a professional wrestler who retired from the sport for psychological reasons.

So, what do you say folks? Got anything more compelling to offer me?

Medieval Oxford

It's been strongly suggested to us that punting on the river is a must...we can either hire someone to navigate those gondola-looking contraptions while we sit and take photos OR we could simply rent one and fend for ourselves...yeah, my thoughts exactly. I'll pack the wetsuit.



I'll be conferencing at St.Aldate's, a brisk 25 minute walk from the Keble College dorms where I sleep. So my next thought was of runners....hmm....

why not the rollerblades she wonders?

Oh.

That brings my health coverage to mind...

So there you have it. Five more sleeps and I've started packing.

Christian Apologetics in the Spirit of C.S.Lewis

That is the subject of my afternoon courses the first week at Oxford.

Here is a taste of his writings:
If you asked twenty good men today what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you had asked almost any of the great Christians of old, he would have replied, Love.
You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philological importance. The negative idea of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point. I do not think this is the Christian virtue of Love. The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so, contains an appeal to desire.
(An excerpt from the Abolition of Man)

Yes...I shall have to rest up for this.

Ten more sleeps...

The Legendary Eye of London is the only way to see all of London in one fell swoop!

What was once just fanciful thinking is soon to become reality. The day we depart for England is looming large and I am excited to be sure. But really, "deliciously frightened" (in the words of Anne of Green Gables) would be more accurate. :)
My daughter will hear nothing more of my immature quaking so this will be the last public expression of that sentiment no matter how overwhelming it becomes.
Oh,to have the naive confidence, nay, obliviousness of youth!

On that note, three of my grandbabies are celebrating their second birthdays this week. This event alone gives reason for pause and moments of sheer amazement...and lest you think me ungrateful, I hasten to add: It's a blessing like none other and words fail me when I try to talk about it. (okay, okay, you're surprised to hear this?...just wait your turn!) Here's a poem that will have to speak for me until I find something better.

Motherhood's Reward
She rocks another baby...
hums an age-old lullaby.
She hopes no one is watching
as with thanks, she starts to cry.

Remembering the time
when the babies were her own,
And her mother told her gently
too soon they would be grown.

Lots of bedtime stories,
skinned knees, and tears to dry,
Teddy bears, toy trucks and dolls
and kites up in the sky.

First days of school, first loves, first cars,
the proms, the wedding days,
Sand castles and snowball fights
and teaching them to pray.

Now, as she holds her grandchild
and gives thanks unto the Lord,
She knows to be a grandma
is motherhood's reward!

And now to refute the simpering jellyfish sound you think you may have detected in this post, please be advised that it is my full intention (DV of course) to board the Eye of London since we have but a single day to visit the city...

Interesting things you never knew about the London Eye
A TEAM EFFORT
It took seven years and the skills of hundreds of people from five countries to make the London Eye a reality

A VIEW FIT FOR A QUEEN
You can see around 40KM (25 miles) from the top as far as Windsor Castle on a clear day

FLYING HIGH
The London Eye welcomes an average of 3.5 million customers every year. You would need 6,680 fully booked British Airways Boeing 747-400 jumbo jets to move that number of fliers!

DING! DING!
The London Eye can carry 800 passengers per revolution - equivalent to 11 London red doubled-decker buses

HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION
Each of the 32 capsules weighs 10 tonnes. To put that figure into perspective, it's the same weight as 1,052,631 pound coins!

SLOWLY BUT SURELY
Each rotation takes about 30 minutes, meaning a capsule travels at a stately 26cm per second, or 0.9km (0.6 miles) per hour - twice as fast as a tortoise sprinting; allowing passengers to step on and off without the wheel having to stop

THE ONLY WAY IS UP
The circumference of the wheel is 424m (1.392ft) - meaning that if it were unravelled, it would be 1.75 times longer than the UK's tallest building - One Canada Square in Canary Wharf

TONNES OF FUN
The total weight of the wheel and capsules is 2,100 tonnes - or as much as 1,272 London black cabs!

UP, UP AND AWAY
The height of the London Eye is 135m (equivalent to 64 red telephone boxes piled on top of each other) making it the fourth tallest structure in London after the BT Tower, Tower 42 and One Canada Square in Canary Wharf

BLAST OFF
The spindle holds the wheel structure and the hub rotates it around the spindle. At 23 meters tall, the spindle is around the size of a church spire and, together with the hub, weighs in at 330 tonnes: over 20 times heavier than Big Ben

Who I am

Assuming you have spent time reflecting on one of the deep questions of faith/life i.e. Who am I? What am I doing here? Where am I going?....you will understand how difficult it can be to articulate. I mean, at least in a manner that is honest & doesn't bore your audience to death.

For one thing, I am a choir teacher. I followed my children into their gradeschool environment, working as a volunteer...a position which developed over the years into resident choir teacher.

This is the type of "job" that gives me so much pleasure and satisfaction, I am still there though my baby has graduated long ago and is now entering university. A good friend uses this to define me:

Two years ago something amazing happened to me which radically altered my station in this life. In one unforgettable summer weekend, I suddenly became the mother of two mothers.
This event instantly and singularly changed the status of my life to Grand.
While I am eternally grateful for this gift and choose to happily dedicate the remainder of my days to wearing this mantle with humility, pizzazz and God's good grace (!) it remains a transition that requires some effort - a deliberate shift in my view of things.
It means taking a fresh look at myself and my new role.

My girls call me Marmie, in the tradition of Louisa May Alcotts' Little Women...a moniker I wear with a bit of trepidation knowing what little semblance I bear to the author's central figure.
It follows does it not, that the advent of grandchildren should augment that name to Grandmarmie? Now it is true of course that the four little lambs whom the Great Giver of Great Gifts has so lavished upon our laps, are all still too young to wrangle such a name from their mouths. But the day is coming and as we await one still in the womb and remember the two we have in heaven, yet to meet someday....gamma and baca will do.

Grandmarmie X 7 with two in heaven. Yeah. I quite like the sound of that.

Oh, and my dear friend who has thus defined me above? She's offered an update...

Clive Staples Who?

Incredulous though it be, there are some in the world who have no inkling :) of C.S. Lewis.
When I try describe to such a person, my great enthusiasm for Oxbridge 2008, I often wish to simply press play on a portable video player and have YouTube say it for me.
Impractical. I know.
So, I heave a heavy sigh and offer my "condensed" verbal definition:

Oxbridge 2008 explores the deep questions of faith in a two-week feast of nourishment for mind, body and spirit with renowned scholars from the arts and sciences, leaders in ministry and the major professions and an array of literary, visual and performing artists.

Insufficient. I know. *!?!!* So go watch the video.